Crawfish Trap

I posted this on ifish almost exactly 4 years ago. I wish I could take credit for this design, but I borrowed it from a commercial crawfisher in the Tualatin whose trap I caught by accident while paddling and fishing (more paddling).  I gave him a call and told him to go run his traps cause they were full (even after I left) and asked him about the area. We chatted and he said there was enough room for a few more traps and even invited me out to run his. He had traps from Cook park to Hillsborough. He was good folks. (Was that you PP?)

 His trap had a hardware cloth cone replacing the bottom of each bucket. My trap uses 1/2" square plastic fence material instead of hardware cloth. The cones on my first ones were held with hot glue, but hog rings work a whole lot better. A couple of rail spike to sink it and your in business. The buckets are held together with two small bungees. My FAVORITE crawfish bait? Shad by a long shot!

The bottom sequence is kinda reversed. The pic on the left is the trap ready to work. The pic on the right is taken apart, nested, and ready to travel.

Nice. 

Is a rot cord and exit required in WA?

Thanks for the info and pics FFT. I'll have to try it.

That's an interesting set up and it looks likes it would work great.

Sure beats the string-tied-on-a-stick-with-a-piece-of-dead-chicken-for-bait system I used in the irrigation ditches.

Nice, finally something to do with all those buckets that the wife thinks I should throw out!

Very nice. Thanks FFTW! I'm going to have to make up a few. I'll "wing it" from looking at your pics.  I have a bunch of black plastic planters left over from all the trees and shrubs i have planted over the years. Might have some mesh I can use. I'll have to comb thru my junk piles.  I've got several different sizes of plastic pots, too. I should be able to make up a few good traps. And I know some good spots to put 'em!

I posted this on ifish almost exactly 4 years ago. I wish I could take credit for this design, but I borrowed it from a commercial crawfisher in the Tualatin whose trap I caught by accident while paddling and fishing (more paddling).  I gave him a call and told him to go run his traps cause they were full (even after I left) and asked him about the area. We chatted and he said there was enough room for a few more traps and even invited me out to run his. He had traps from Cook park to Hillsborough. He was good folks. (Was that you PP?)

 His trap had a hardware cloth cone replacing the bottom of each bucket. My trap uses 1/2" square plastic fence material instead of hardware cloth. The cones on my first ones were held with hot glue, but hog rings work a whole lot better. A couple of rail spike to sink it and your in business. The buckets are held together with two small bungees. My FAVORITE crawfish bait? Shad by a long shot!

The bottom sequence is kinda reversed. The pic on the left is the trap ready to work. The pic on the right is taken apart, nested, and ready to travel.

You should send a photo to The Costco Connection.

Thanks for sharing the trap.  I was thinking of building something similar but smaller.

When I was a kid we would take a can of dog food, punch holes in it with a screwdriver, and throw it in one of these:

When I was a kid we would take a can of dog food, punch holes in it with a screwdriver, and throw it in one of these:

Yaaa, but did they catch critter's like these?

Nah, you'd have to have a bigger hole     But there was no point, we would catch them in the drainage 'ditch' in the back, then use them to catch LMB - which were also residents in the drainage 'ditch'  (yes, there was Banjo music)

When I was a kid we would take a can of dog food, punch holes in it with a screwdriver, and throw it in one of these:

Yaaa, but did they catch critter's like these?

Where were you catching those?

-Craig

Springfield Nuclear Plant retention pond

Just a warning to stay clear of the traps upstream of Rood Bridge (on the Tualatin).  I met up with some hyper-chromosomed individuals in a rust bucket boat, and they were none too happy that I was paddling near their trap field.  Kinda got the impression that I should bring Burt Reynolds with me when I head up there.  One dude looked like Sloth from the Goonies.  He told me that those waters were his.  But then he offered me a pull from his Bud Light.  So maybe he's cool.  Anyway, probably best not to call the number on those traps.

Actually they came from South of there. Just north of Cook Park.